Shilo Beals has been arrested for first-degree murder in the 2004 shooting death of Kevin Bowser.Halifax Regional Police/handout

HALIFAX - More than 10 years after the shooting of Kevin Bowser, police have arrested and charged the man they believe is responsible for the 28-year-old’s death.

Around 10 p.m. on July 10, 2004, police responded to reports of a shooting near 5450 Uniacke St. in Halifax.

They found 28-year-old Bowser suffering from gunshot wounds in front of nearby 5446 Uniacke St. He died shortly afterwards.

On July 14 of this year, a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for 31-year-old Shilo Marcino Beals of Cherry Brook as police laid a charge of first-degree murder and six weapons offences against him.

On Wednesday morning, officers with the Nottawasaga Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, alongside K-9 units and a parole enforcement team, arrested Beals at a residence on Highway 89 in New Tecumseth, Ont.

“These files are never closed. They’re always being worked on,” said Halifax Regional Police spokesman Const. Pierre Bourdages about the arrest, and previously announced charges.

“Unfortunately it took that time to bring Mr. Beals to justice,” he said.

Beals appeared in a Barrie courtroom Wednesday for a bail hearing, and Bourdages said Halifax police requested a six-day remand so he will be kept in custody until local investigators can pick him up and bring him back to Nova Scotia.

Bowser’s death was not random, Bourdages said, but he would not comment on what led them to lay the first-degree murder charge besides the “entirety of the investigation” as the case is before the courts.

“Ultimately we want to being closure for the family, to be able to bring the individual responsible … to justice,” Bourdages said.

Bourdages said he did not know how the Ontario police were led to arrest Beals, but “it’s a good thing for us that he has been located.”

Police say they are not looking for anyone else in connection to Bowser’s murder.